What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 381 - 377: Another Runaway
Gu Ling is a scholar, without the slightest skill in martial arts.
So when he inquired about Tonghua Valley, Tang Xiaobai never thought he might actually visit there himself, hence didn’t mention the sinister side of Tonghua Valley more.
It’s too late to regret now.
Although Gu Wei and Gu You were also going to Tonghua Valley, Tang Xiaobai was still worried and sought out Tao Fen, hoping to keep track of Gu Ling’s whereabouts from another angle.
However, before she could find Tao Fen, Tao Fen sought her out first.
As soon as he appeared, he was full of anxiety: "I have something to ask the Crown Princess Consort for help with!"
This was the first time Tao Fen asked her for help, so Tang Xiaobai set aside her own matters first and asked, "Tell me slowly, Brother Tao."
Tao Fen sighed heavily and said, "Chuchu ran away from home!"
Tang Xiaobai was taken aback.
Another runaway?
"It’s all my fault!" Tao Fen was extremely annoyed, "I argued with her for a bit yesterday, and today she’s gone—"
"What did you argue about?" Tang Xiaobai suddenly asked.
Tao Fen was a bit embarrassed: "It’s nothing... Just that I told her not to believe those storytellers... I’ve said it before, and she never got this angry before, sigh..."
"Did she just leave like that? Didn’t leave a word?" Tang Xiaobai pondered.
"She did leave a letter," Tao Fen sighed again, "saying that she’s completely fine, I don’t owe her anything, and won’t bother me in the future — When did I ever say she was a bother? Wasn’t everything going well all this time? She doesn’t want to marry me, being siblings is also fine, isn’t it? What’s the deal with this bothering or not bothering between siblings?"...
Tang Xiaobai fell into silence.
"... Chuchu’s old injuries have healed, but her health is still weak. I’ve asked someone to search around the Capital City, but haven’t found a trace, so I wanted to ask the Crown Princess Consort to send someone to look for her—"
Seeing Tang Xiaobai agree, Tao Fen sighed heavily again and said worriedly, "Where do you think she, a frail girl, could have gone?"
Tang Xiaobai’s expression flickered for a moment, murmuring, "Maybe... Tonghua Valley?"
...
Perhaps it was too much of a coincidence, but as soon as Tang Xiaobai heard about Zhong Chuchu’s disappearance, she immediately connected it to Gu Ling and Tonghua Valley.
But intuition couldn’t be relied upon, so she dutifully sent people out to look.
However, three days passed, and there was soon news of Gu Ling, but Zhong Chuchu seemed to have vanished without a trace, with none of Tao Fen’s friends in town gates, checkpoints, and relay stations having seen her.
"Could she have been kidnapped?" Tang Xiaobai, filled with concern, had some difficulty concentrating on the newly delivered survey and map documents from Chongren Hall.
"If it were a kidnapping, the other party would eventually name a price, so there’s no need to worry about Miss Zhong’s safety." Crown Prince seated at the desk reassured her with his words, but his hand never paused in its writing.
Encouraged by his diligent work, Tang Xiaobai nodded and continued to peruse the files.
After turning a couple of pages, she heard him speak again: "There is another possibility—" He didn’t finish the sentence.
Tang Xiaobai’s heart stirred: "You mean, she’s deliberately hiding her whereabouts?"
"Yes."
After thinking for a moment, Tang Xiaobai called in Tao Zi and instructed, "Go to Duke Yan Mansion and ask the Duke for me what he thinks of Zhong Chuchu leaving a letter and running away?"
Tao Zi quickly returned with Tang Shigong’s reply: "Since she left with a note, she must be determined to leave, so there’s no need to search."
Only then did Tang Xiaobai feel relieved.
The day her mother had a difficult labor, Zhong Chuchu showed her skills, which her father must have noticed and had his own considerations regarding Zhong Chuchu.
In this light, Zhong Chuchu really isn’t simple, no wonder she could hide her tracks so well.
It’s probably as the Young Ancestor suspected, Zhong Chuchu does possess martial arts skills.
The sudden departure might be because of last time’s exposure, or perhaps...
Tonghua Valley?
...
Tonghua Valley is in Junzhou, a round trip by fast horse from the Capital City would take only three days.
The Gu brothers sent news seven days after leaving the Capital—
The encirclement failed.
...
"... It seems that Tonghua Valley was prepared, the formations on the mountain have changed, the vanguard got trapped in the formation, suffering heavy losses, and it was then that Gu Sixth Son was injured—"
In Lizheng Hall, Yao He kneeled on one knee upon returning to the Capital to report his mission, bowing his head and speaking in a deep voice: "I failed in my duties, unable to protect the Sixth Son safely!"
Gu Sixth Son, that is, Gu You.
Hot-blooded and youthful, he rushed to the front, and thus was hurt the most.
Since a member of the Gu family was injured, Li Mu didn’t speak up and looked towards Tang Xiaobai.
Tang Xiaobai certainly wouldn’t blame Yao He for this: "You weren’t there to protect him in the first place, so it doesn’t count as a failure in duty."
After all, there’s no such thing as enjoying achievements without taking risks in this world.
Although Tang Xiaobai was also concerned for her cousin, Yao He was following in the capacity of a Xuan Yi Guard mainly to keep an eye on Hua Jian, not to serve some young noble.
"In your opinion, does the preparation of Tonghua Valley have anything to do with Hua Jian?" Tang Xiaobai asked.
After all, Hua Jian had resisted disclosing anything before, yet suddenly yielded.
"Hua Jian was injured as well." Yao He answered with some caution.
"Feigning injury." Li Mu said quietly.
Yao He shook his head: "In both the first escape from the mountain formation and the second successful siege, Hua Jian contributed, so it doesn’t look like a feigned injury to me."
Reflecting on the successful siege, Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but ask: "Tell me about that mysterious person! Male or female?"
There had been prior correspondence mentioning a mysterious masked person.
In their first failed siege attempt, they managed to escape thanks to help from this masked person and later, with their assistance, breached Tonghua Valley.
Although the initial effort failed and many escaped again in the second attempt, they still managed to capture Tonghua Valley.
This masked person played a crucial role.
The moment Tang Xiaobai came across "masked person," her thoughts immediately connected it to the runaway Zhong Chuchu.
There’s no story without coincidence.
Isn’t this a story in itself!
She’s already imagined the plot!
A peerless heroine catches an enemy’s ambush and loses her martial abilities—maybe through poison losing her strength — just at this moment, she coincidentally encounters an inexperienced and impulsive Tao Fen, sustaining a nearly fatal accidental injury, thus taking the opportunity to recuperate in seclusion for years.
Years later, with her injuries healed, her strength possibly even greater, the heroine nevertheless falls in love with this storm-free peaceful life, still pretending to be feeble.
But ultimately, to save someone, the heroine reveals her background, fearing being discovered by enemies and putting close-to-brother Tao Fen at risk, she uses that as a reason to quietly depart.
Maybe by chance, maybe knowing something, the heroine follows the besieging troops to Tonghua Valley, intervening masked at a critical moment—
Well, well!
With this plot!
Give her a pen, she can write it!
However, previous letters did not mention the masked person’s gender, so she could only patiently wait for Yao He’s return to confirm.
Yao He was about to respond when there’s suddenly an announcement from outside the hall: "Writer Gu requests an audience!"
Gu Ling had returned to the Capital alongside the besieging troops.
The earlier letters hadn’t elaborated, only stating he had been kidnapped by those from Tonghua Valley, without mentioning how he was rescued or if he was hurt.
Now seeing him stride energetically into Lizheng Hall indicated he hadn’t been harmed.
After a hasty bow upon entering, Gu Ling looked up with urgent expression: "My lord, I implore, please permit me an audience with the captives from Tonghua Valley!"
Without waiting for the Crown Prince couple to inquire, he seemed unable to hold back and declared: "I’ve found her! Miss Ji! I met her at Tonghua Valley!"
